Zenga: Ten-man Al Nasr deserved at least a draw

Dubai: Al Nasr boss Walter Zenga said his ten-man side deserved at least a draw after going down 2-1 to Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli in Group C of the AFC Champions League on Wednesday.

Al Ahli’s second win in as many matches in the group takes them to the top of the pool with six points.

Al Gharafa are in second place, following their 3-1 win over Sepahan of Iran earlier on Wednesday, while Al Nasr remain at the bottom with no points.

But Zenga felt his side deserved more after battling bravely following the sending off of captain Léo Lima.

The Italian said: “We deserved a draw at least. After the red card, the players showed a lot of spirit and character and created a lot of chances and maintained the same rhythm and mentality throughout the 90 minutes.”

“We are sad about the result, but we still have hopes of qualifying. Hopefully we will have some luck in the upcoming matches because luck is important in football. The team has shown a great mentality and it has shown they have a great future,” Zenga added.

Oman striker Amad Al Hosni scored both goals for the Saudi team as last year’s AFC Champions League runners-up to cancel out Takayuki Morimoto’s early opener for Al Nasr.

But the home side were reduced to 10 men when Lima was shown a straight red card with one hour still to go following a bad challenge on Jairo Palomino.

“We deserve to be at the top of the points table because in both games, we showed that we were up to form,” Al Ahli boss Aleksandar Ilic said.

“Yes, there are some problems and we are working on these. So far, I’ve had only 15 days with the team and I believe our performances will improve gradually,” he added.

After holding the numerical advantage, Al Ahli did well to create the chances, but failed to convert them.

“One big problem was that we created many chances, especially in the second half, and if we had scored a third goal, we would not have to worry about the result,” Ilic admitted.

“But I am really happy about the result and I think the players tried their best. You cannot always win by a high margin. The players showed they are improving,” he added.